Jono El Grande - The Choko King

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4...according to our Dave on Wed 25 Jan, 2012.

Step into the madcap world of Jono El Grande (real name John Sausage Leg), who is a madcap multi-instrumentalist from that cold, unforgiving place that is known as Sunderland (all right, he's from Norway). A self-taught musician, artist, composer, prankster and all round bastard, he's been haunting the dreams of many a Norwegian child for the last few years, like some avant-garde version of Freddie Krueger, and remains on the outskirts of the Norwegian experimental scene, due to his eccentricity, his dislike for women and his unusual penchant for dressing up in lettuce leaves and laying on people's salad bowls, saying in a tiny voice, “I am Christophe, I like seagulls...”, and generally winding people up. This LP is his third LP since 2009 and the first since that celebrated carp incident of 1965. It is unlike anything you'll hear this year. It's quite a hotchpotch of ideas, musical jokes and bizarre time signatures. it's almost like free form jazz, with the occasional jabberings of Mr Grande punctuating certain moments. It's very funny, occasionally worrying and has some really great moments that are as mad as a former British Prime Minister. This LP won't be for everybody but if like me you are a fan of Zappa and/or something a bit more contemporary like Liverpool's A.P.A.T.T. you will find this LP most refreshing. Skewed, bizarre but quite brilliant shit...

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”The Choko King” is Jono´s third album since 2009, but the recordings are from the period between 1995 and 2008, some of which predates his first album by four years. ”The Choko King” offers an open door into Jono´s surrealistic musical universe and is a rare gift to his increasing number of fans and anyone interested in the workings of a truly eccentric and artistic mind.The album has been meticulously assembled from home recordings, demos, rehearsal tapes, live and studio recordings and made into a completely new work by Jono himself.Jono El Grande is a self-taught composer, musician, conductor and prankster and remains an outsider on the far margin of the Norwegian experimental music scene. He released his debut mini album ”Utopian Dances” in 1999, a collection of absurdist instrumentals recorded at home using not much more than a workstation synth. 2003 saw the release of ”Fevergreens”, an album that drew upon classic progressive rock, film music, easy listening and a variety of pop idioms and featured a nine piece orchestra. The Wire noted that ”the vitality of his writing keeps just the right uplifting balance between sweetness and acidity” and called it ”a pleasant surprise”. Next up was ”Neo Dada” (2009), an album brimming with musical adventure, odd turns, weird combinations of sounds and instruments, complex signatures and a good portion of pure joy, all mysteriously sugared with infectious melodic hooks. ”Neo Dada” represented something of an artistic breakthrough and received great reviews everywhere. This was followed by ”Phantom Stimulance” in late 2010. The sleeve paintings are by acknowledged Norwegian artist Christer Karlstad and shows the Choko King, intentionally misspelt to point to the megalomaniac´s hybris: to choke on what you desire the most. ”The Choko King” also comes as a limited, numbered vinyl edition of only 300 copies with ”insanely nerdy details” on each track by Jono himself.
The CD edition has a 14 minute bonus track.

Balla Brimi said:

John Sausage Leg? Where on Earth did you get that from?

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